In 1970 Houck coached the freshmen team at Southern California, and after two years he became the offensive line coach at Stanford. There he coached the first Stanford 2-time All Pac-8 offensive guard and Hall of Famer, Alex Karakozoff and sent several players to the NFL including Gary Anderson, Bill Reid and tutoring eventual All-American and first round NFL draft pick Gordon King.

Houck spent one season as offensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks in 1992. Seahawks running back Chris Warren logged the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his career with Houck tutoring his blockers.

Houck spent the next nine years coaching the offensive line for the Dallas Cowboys. At times during Houck's tenure the Cowboys' line was one of the most dominant in the history of the game. The 203 sacks they allowed in nine years under Houck were the fewest of any NFL team in that span. Six offensive linemen earned 22 trips to the Pro Bowl under Houck, including Larry Allen (7), Nate Newton (5), Erik Williams (4), Ray Donaldson (2), Mark Stepnoski (2) and Mark Tuinei (2). Future Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith earned a pair of rushing titles during Houck's tenure, and rushed for over 1,000 yards every season. He was also the assistant head coach from 1994 to 1997.

With the San Diego Chargers from 2002 to 2004, Houck transformed one of the league's worst offensive lines to one of the best. Running backLaDainian Tomlinson rushed for more than 1,300 yards in each of Houck's three seasons with the team. With five new starters on the line in 2004, the Chargers ranked tenth in total offense and sixth in rushing. The Chargers allowed fewer than 25 sacks per season under Houck.

After the Dolphins' 1-15 2007 season, Houck was fired along with most of the Dolphins' coaching staff by incoming Vice President of Football Operations Bill Parcells.[citation needed]Jerry Jones re-hired Houck when Parcells hired Cowboys line coach Tony Sparano to serve as the Dolphins' head coach.